Vampire Affliction (3 page)

“How do you know when a half hour is up?” Gertie asked.

“There’s a sun dial in the cavern near the basin.”

Gertie shuddered, recalling the excruciating pain the sun had caused her moments ago.

Reading her thoughts, Jeno said, “Indirect light won’t hurt you. A tiny crack in the ceiling of the cave allows a few rays to shine down on my sun dial. You’ll see. It’s really quite breathtaking.”

“Then what do you do? After you bathe?” Gertie asked.

“Then I read until dusk.”

“The same books, over and over,” Calandra said.

“So? I enjoy them. They are my little escape.”

Gertie smiled. She felt the same way about books. She went to his bookcase and glanced over his collection. He had all the old Greek tragedies, most of the Shakespearean plays and sonnets, a book of fairy tales, and about two dozen novels, some of which she’d read.

“We seriously need to update your library,” she said.” And
Wuthering Heights
is way too sad for my tastes. I couldn’t read it a second time.”

“I don’t know why I’ve read it as many times as I have,” Jeno replied, “but I have loads more books in Patras. Maria, the woman I told you about, left me her library. I just haven’t taken the time to transport it back here.”

Gertie fingered some of the spines. “You have an impressive dystopian collection—
Brave New World, 1984, The Handmaid’s Tale, The Giver
…”

“Yes. I need to get the
Hunger Games
trilogy. Have you read it?”

“Oh my gosh! I loved it. You could read it on my e-reader if…” Then she realized it was back at Hector’s house. Even if she ever got it back, how would she keep it charged? The thought of living an eternity without her e-reader and her huge collection of ebooks made her sad. “So what do you do after your reading time is up?” Gertie asked.

“That’s where my routine varies.” He returned the pocket watch to the writing desk. “If Calandra has a gig, I go and listen. Sometimes I hang out at the bars. Or, I go and see a movie, if I have money.”

“Why don’t you use mind control to make the movie attendants let you in?” Gertie asked.

“I do that sometimes,” Jeno said. “But it always makes me feel bad.”

Calandra rolled her eyes. “I have never met another vampire with such a conscience as my brother. I go to free movies all the time. I’m not hurting anyone.”

Gertie agreed with Calandra. What harm was there?

It’s stealing
, he said in their minds.
I’m taking money away from artists when I enjoy their work without paying
.

Gertie hadn’t thought of that.

“Anyway,” Jeno continued, “after a movie or a night at the bar, I will feed, and then fly around and enjoy myself for a few hours, if it isn’t raining. Then I return here and go to sleep.”

“He only goes off of his schedule when he’s depressed.” Calandra lightly strummed the citole. “Like after he first met you.”

“Oh.”

“Even when I lived with Maria, it was a similar routine,” Jeno added. “I found an entrance to the Underworld in Patras, and so I kept up with the horses. And I sometimes came into Athens to listen to Calandra perform.”

“And you don’t get tired of your routine?” Gertie asked.

“No. Not usually. I enjoy what I do. I think the vampires who live from one moment to the next with no plan, like my sister, are more vulnerable to boredom and melancholy than I am.”

“It’s true,” Calandra admitted.

“So what time is it?” Gertie asked. “What would you normally be doing now?”

Jeno glanced at the collection of clocks. “It looks like I would have one more hour with Swift and Sure.”

“Huh?” Gertie furrowed her brows.

“The stallions belonging to Hades.”

“Oh, right! Can we go? Will you take me to the Underworld?” She wondered if it would be possible to see her grandma.

He gave her his arm, so she took it.
We can go, but we will not see your grandma.

“Goodbye, Calandra,” Jeno said. “See you later tonight.”

“See you,” his sister replied.

Then together they flew further down the winding tunnels into a large cavern where light broke through the ceiling. It was the basin where Jeno bathed. Two vampires lay still as stones in the water with their heads lying on the rocky bank. One of them opened her eyes and looked curiously at Gertie before closing them again.

“We have to dive into the sinkhole to get to the Underworld,” Jeno explained. “Ready?”

Chapter Three: Warnings and Premonitions

Gertie took a deep breath and followed Jeno into the cold water of the cave and through a crack in the bottom. The crack led to three narrow tunnels that fingered out, even deeper, toward the earth’s core. Jeno led her through one of them. Although she found it easy to hold her breath for a long stretch of time, Gertie was glad when the tunnel curved upward and they emerged from another sinkhole in a different cave.

Before she had a moment to take in her new surroundings, a shrill screech made the wet hair on the back of her neck tingle and her heart stop altogether for several seconds.

“Don’t worry.” Jeno winked as he pulled her from the water.

They flew up toward the ceiling of the enormous cavern just as a dragon leapt toward them.

“She does this to me every time.” Jeno laughed from their perch on the ceiling, out of the creature’s reach. “Don’t you, Hydra?”

“You might have warned me,” Gertie said, catching her breath.

“What would have been the fun in that?” His dark eyes twinkled.

“I thought the Hydra was supposed to have nine heads. I’m glad the stories are wrong.”

“She did have nine, but only
one
is immortal. See those eight necks at her waist?”

“I thought those were tentacles. Geez.”

“No. The other eight heads were slayed by Heracles as part of his twelve labors.”

“I thought it was
Hercules
who had twelve labors.”

“Same man.”

The Hydra shrieked again, spitting fire in their direction.

“She’s not very friendly,” Gertie pointed out.

“Oh, this is definitely her friendlier side. We wouldn’t have made it past her if she didn’t know me.”

Gertie shuddered.

“Come on.” Jeno took her hand and pulled her away from the cavern and through another tunnel, which was lined by a river of fire.

“We follow the Phlegethon all the way to where it crosses the Lethe River. See it?”

Gertie did see water up ahead. It was overlaid with a fine white mist. And all along the walls and ceiling of the cavern were sparkling jewels reflecting the light from the flames of the Phlegethon. It was actually quite beautiful.

“We turn here. That’s Hades’s garage. Mind you don’t touch his chariot. He’s very particular about that.”

A figure appeared in the distance on the Lethe River—an old man on a raft with people standing behind him.

“Is that Charon?” she whispered.

“Yes. We aren’t allowed to talk to him.”

“Who’s that with him?”

“Thanatos, the god of death. He’s taking a soul to judgment.”

Gertie could tell which was the god and which was the soul, because the former was beautiful and bright, with amazing blue eyes and dark, wavy hair. The latter was transparent and small—the soul of a child.

“Come on,” Jeno said. “This way.”

They passed the golden chariot with its black wrought iron finials and came upon a large stall filled with hay and two gigantic black horses with red, frightful eyes.

“Don’t be afraid,” Jeno said. “They only
look
scary.”

He handed her a brush from one of the shelves.

She frowned, unable to believe such formidable creatures would allow her to brush them.

“They
love
to be groomed. They practically
purr
,” Jeno said, taking his brush to one of the horses. “Isn’t that right, boy?”

With a trembling hand, Gertie reached toward the other horse and then hesitated. “Which is which?”

“That’s Swift,” he said.

Carefully, Gertie applied the brush to Swift’s lower neck. When the horse didn’t attack her, Gertie brushed in longer, more confident strokes. Soon the motion became soothing for both her and the animal. She could sense his gratitude.

But Gertie barely had time to enjoy the experience when she sensed another presence in the room. She glanced at Jeno, who sensed it, too. Even the ears of the stallions moved.

“Who’s there?” Jeno asked.

The image of a woman glimmered a few feet away, near the chariot. Gradually, she faded into view. Her blonde hair was the same shade as Gertie’s but was coiled in ringlets around her face. Gertie blanched when she saw the curls weren’t made of hair, but of snakes.

“Medusa?” Gertie whispered.

The apparition laughed, coming into full view. A falcon perched on her shoulder, glaring at Gertie with black eyes. “No. Megaera.”

One of the Furies
, Jeno said in Gertie’s mind.

How are we supposed to act in front of a Fury?
Gertie asked Jeno telepathically.
Do we drop to our knees?
Whatever it was, Gertie wanted to get it right. From what she’d read, the Furies were the avengers of the Underworld. They tormented evildoers in Tartarus.

“I’ve come with a warning from my father,” the Fury said.

“Lord Hades?” Jeno asked. “What is it?”

“He has a special fondness for you, vampire,” Megaera said. “You’ve served his stallions well for centuries. Out of appreciation, he wants you to be warned that this uprising will turn all of you into enemies of the Olympians. He wants you to know that if you carry out your plans to attack Athens, or any city, you will no longer be safe in his kingdom. You will no longer be safe anywhere.”

“But we only want justice,” Jeno said. “We want freedom.”

“Hades would say that life isn’t fair, but death is,” the Fury said.

“And what of those who never die?” Jeno asked.

The Fury crossed her arms. “Consider yourself warned.”

The figure vanished, leaving Gertie and Jeno alone with the horses.

“Should we get out of here?” Gertie asked, frightened for their safety.

“I can’t believe this,” Jeno said. “I’ve been coming for so long.”

“Maybe we can talk your father out of the uprising. People are going to get hurt, maybe even die.”

It’s too late
. Jeno put his arms around Sure and lay his cheek against the animal’s neck. “Will you remember me?”

The animal, of course, did not reply. If it had, Gertie would have
really
freaked out.

Jeno next hugged the other stallion. “I hope to see you again, my friend.”

“I’m sure of it.” Gertie went up behind Jeno and wrapped her arms around his waist, leaning against his back in the same way he leaned against the horse.

They remained with the horses for a while longer, and then, as they were about to leave for the Hydra’s sinkhole, a voice called to them from the flames of the Phlegethon just outside Hades’s garage.

Thinking it might be Lord Hades himself, Gertie gasped and moved closer, with Jeno on her heels. But the image in the flames did not look like anything that would remotely resemble the lord of the Underworld. It was that of an old man with empty sockets and sagging breasts and a way of swaying back and forth. Gertie had heard of this person. It was the old blind seer, Tiresias—a prophet condemned to Tartarus for daring to tell the future, considered an act of pride and crime against the gods.

It was incredible to see him standing before her. It was like seeing a character from one of her books.

“Jeno Mimikopoulou,” the blind seer said in a raspy voice. “Hurry back to your cave and save your sister.”

Gertie’s mouth dropped open. She turned to Jeno, whose eyes were wide with fear. He grabbed her hand, and together they flew toward the Hydra’s hole.

Chapter Four: Death and Exile

Gertie and Jeno returned to the caverns beneath the acropolis to find them filled with smoke. It was like the Hotel Frangelico all over again. Vampires hissed and screamed as they fled the caves for the scorching daylight. Gertie followed Jeno to his room, where Calandra was stuffing her instruments into one of the feather mattresses she had emptied of its feathers. The white feathers lingered like flakes of snow in the black, creeping smoke.

“Oh, good! You’re back!” she cried. “I can’t get your clocks. Can you?”

Stones crumbled from the ceiling and fell about them like hail.

“Why is this happening?” Gertie yelled.

“I don’t know, but we need to get out of here
now
!” Jeno hollered. “Leave everything and come on!”

“You’ll be sorry not to have your things.” Calandra stuffed two of his clocks in her feather mattress before following him and Gertie from the room.

More rocks tumbled down on them as they and other vampires scrambled from the caverns.

“The family portraits!” Calandra cried. “Take this. I’ll be right back.”

Calandra dropped the bulky mattress at their feet and vanished.

“Wait!” Jeno cried. “Calandra! Come on!”

Gertie’s heart sank in her chest as the ceiling began crumbling at an impossible rate. She and Jeno charged through the rubble toward Calandra as they were hit hard by falling debris. Just as Gertie was about to give up and fly away toward safety, Calandra emerged from around the bend with the three framed portraits in her arms. Before she reached Jeno, however, a huge chunk of the ceiling above her collapsed and crushed her, and the searing sunlight broke through and scorched them all.

“Calandra!” Jeno rushed toward his sister and desperately dug through the debris as more fell on top of him.

Gertie was terrified that he, too, would be crushed.

“Jeno, please! We have to get out of here!” The pain from the direct light was unbearable—worse than the blows from the falling rock.

“I can’t leave her! You go!”

Gertie rushed to his side and began digging, too, until a huge rock fell on top of her and knocked her out.

In another moment she woke up, feeling like she was on fire. She was being carried by Jeno away from the city of Athens in the scorching daylight. Beside her was the limp body of his sister. Jeno held them close to his body, trying to shield them as best he could from the sun. Gertie gritted her teeth and did her best not to cry out in agony.

“I’m so sorry, koureetsi mou.”

In spite of her intense pain, she was able to read his mind. He was sending out a message to all of the others to seek refuge in the caves on his island.

“The island where Alexander…?” she couldn’t finish her question.

“I’m sorry. I know of no other place.”

Then something horrible happened: Calandra’s body began to turn to dust and disintegrate before Gertie’s eyes.

“No!” Jeno plunged down toward the island and shot down into a cave, landing against a crowd of other vampires, who had arrived before them.

The others helped lay out what remained of Calandra on the cool ground. As relieved as Gertie felt to be out of the tormenting sunlight, she was overcome with despair at the sight of Jeno’s sister. Only half of Calandra’s skull remained intact. Half had disintegrated and crumbled into dust. And only half of her body was left—the half that had been protected by Jeno’s body from the sunlight.

“Why has this happened?” Gertie cried.

Jeno stared in disbelief at the ruined body of his sister. In another moment, Vladimir arrived. He looked at Gertie and read her mind.

“Who has done this?” Vladimir cried in a voice of desperation.

He fell to his knees beside his son and gazed at what was left of his daughter. Tears filled his eyes, and more fell from Jeno’s cheeks.

Gertie heard Jeno’s thought:
I’ve gained a father but have lost a sister.

“This isn’t fair! I’ve only just come back!” Vladimir cried. “After centuries of longing for you two.” His voice cracked on his last words as he embraced his son.

How could this happen to her
? Gertie thought.
Vampires can handle short spans of sunlight.

“This happens when we’re completely drained of blood,” one of the other vampires replied to her thoughts. “The sunlight destroys us.”

Other casualties began pouring into the caves in the arms of their weeping loved ones. Within a span of thirty minutes, more than ten crumbling corpses lined the cavern floor.

From the open thoughts of some of those still living, Gertie understood that there were more casualties that hadn’t been saved.

“I should have left her there,” Jeno muttered. “Maybe we could have revived her later tonight.”

“Once the caves collapsed, the light broke through, anyway,” someone said. “We had to take the chance.”

Tears streamed from Gertie’s eyes at the sight of Jeno and his father slumped over Calandra. Jeno had just lost everything that had ever been dear to him—his home, his clocks, his books, his only image of his mother, and, most importantly, his sister. Gertie had never felt sorrier for anyone in her life. Wrapping her arms around his waist from behind, she leaned her cheek against his back and cried.

I’m so sorry, Jeno. I’m so, so sorry.

There was only one thing Gertie knew for sure: if Hector had any role in this malicious act, then she wanted nothing to do with him ever again.

The vampires wept and mourned for the rest of the day in the refuge of the caves, their number increasing as other refugees from the acropolis found their way to Jeno’s island. At night, they gathered on the beach beneath the cool moonlight to discuss where to go from here. Gertie was surprised by their number. At least a hundred were present. She was sorry for them and angry for what had happened, but she was also frightened for the people of Greece, especially for the Angelis family and for Hector.

Vladimir stood facing the crowd with his back to the sea and his feet in the shallow waves that gently lapped upon the sand. Two of the other clan leaders, who’d been introduced to Gertie as Homer and Euripides, stood on either side of him. They were both elderly in appearance and must have been nearly twice Vladimir’s age when they were all created by the Maenads.

Vladimir cleared his throat. “My brothers and sisters, our first task should be to visit our old caves and see if any of those left behind might be rescued. It’s doubtful, but not impossible, that there are survivors.”

Homer stepped forward. “Those of you who lost inordinate amounts of blood during the collapse might first need to feed before all else.” The old vampire turned to his two co-leaders. “I’ve forgotten what else I wanted to say.”

“Reconvene here at midnight,” Euripides said.

“Yes,” Homer said. “Reconvene here at midnight.”

“To pray in solidarity for the guidance of Dionysus,” Euripides added.

“Yes, to pray,” Homer said.

“When will we attack the city?” someone from the crowd asked, which stirred a lot of commotion on the beach.

Vladimir raised his hand for silence. “I promise we will have our revenge, but first we want to solicit the help of our lord.”

“I agree,” Homer said. “And I want to add that…” the old vampire left off, turning to his companions for help.

“That we’ll be more successful with a god on our side,” Euripides finished for him.

“Yes,” Homer said. “Exactly.”

“If anyone here tonight makes any move on his or her own against humanity,” Vladimir said, “you’ll only undermine our efforts as a group. We must cooperate and plan our actions strategically if we hope to enact change after so many centuries of subjugation.”

“So be patient,” Euripides said. “And reach out to other vampires in neighboring cities. Spread the word about what has happened and what we hope to do.”

“But be discreet,” Homer added. “We don’t want the gods to get wind of this.”

“Those who can go without blood should follow me to the acropolis,” Vladimir said. “The rest can meet us there after you feed. But all should be on the lookout for signs of trouble.”

“Back here at midnight,” Euripides said.

“Let’s go!” Homer cried, waving his arms in the air.

Vladimir took off in the dark night with at least half the crowd behind him. The other half went in other directions. Jeno lingered behind on the island with Gertie, probably because he had already read her mind.

She hadn’t lost any blood in the collapse, but she was starving for it.

“It’s because you’re new,” Jeno explained gently before kissing the top of her nose. “Let’s go. I’ll help you.”